Gr8Scott
07-21-2005, 09:25 PM
I heard there were haji's in the wire, so I grabbed up my "crowd pleaser" and set up shop near the garden and waited. Laid the big bertha AR-15 with the bull barrel, Jewel trigger and huge optics on the hood of the truck. Sure enough, the fuzzy little haji peeked his head out of the brush by the creek and carefully worked his way through the open spot between the creek and the garden. I grabbed up the rifle and tried to get into a shooting position without blowing my position. He made it to the taller grass and was almost lost to the equally tall vegitation of the watermelon patch when I decided to take a blind shot through the grass or lose him in the tall vegitation. I was flat with him and the stretch of shorter grass was small. The haji was across before I got a sight picture because the truck put the rifle at an odd angle. I had to stand on my tip toes to get the nose of the gun down enough to pop his pimple. The crowd pleaser was loaded with Federal ballistic tip ammo and it was VERY effective. I'll post a pic later if noone objects. It's very gross, but it shows what a solid hit with this ammo will do when propelled out of a 24" barrel. This stuff is MEAN!!! I haven't seen this kind of carnage since my brother broke out his 22-250 also with ballistic tips.
I also saw the well hidden and really tough to get groundhog on my way back from disposing of the carcass. He ran back to his concealment, but all I had with me was my pistol and waited. Sweat was pouring down my head and into my eyes throughout the wait. I didn't wipe it off for fear of scaring him off if he came back out. He eventually came back out and presented me with a nice upright shot which I took with the pistol, but unfortunately, he bent down to pick up another leaf just as I decided to squeeze off the round. It would have impacted his head because I saw the point of impact left afterward and his head was obscuring that point just before I squeezed the round off. It hit and marked the concrete bridge behind him. The .45 can't hurt this bridge and the lead split on impact just like it would have if it hit metal. This hog will have to be dealt with another day. I think he will be gettable later. I just have to find a good spot to hit him from. I hate the idea of continually shooting into the bridge. That just seems odd even if it doesn't really hurt it. Photo of the first victim to come later.
I also saw the well hidden and really tough to get groundhog on my way back from disposing of the carcass. He ran back to his concealment, but all I had with me was my pistol and waited. Sweat was pouring down my head and into my eyes throughout the wait. I didn't wipe it off for fear of scaring him off if he came back out. He eventually came back out and presented me with a nice upright shot which I took with the pistol, but unfortunately, he bent down to pick up another leaf just as I decided to squeeze off the round. It would have impacted his head because I saw the point of impact left afterward and his head was obscuring that point just before I squeezed the round off. It hit and marked the concrete bridge behind him. The .45 can't hurt this bridge and the lead split on impact just like it would have if it hit metal. This hog will have to be dealt with another day. I think he will be gettable later. I just have to find a good spot to hit him from. I hate the idea of continually shooting into the bridge. That just seems odd even if it doesn't really hurt it. Photo of the first victim to come later.